The object of the invention is a fodder additive for use in the feeding of ruminants, the additive influencing advantageously the milk production of cows by increasing their blood sugar level.
The metabolism of the organism requires easily soluble carbohydrates, above all various sugars, of which glucose is the most important. In the non ruminants the large molecular carbohydrates, such as starch, split into sugars by means of the digestive fluid in the intestine. In ruminants, the same splitting takes place already in the proventriculi, above all in the rumen, through the action of microbes. These carbohydrates as well as the sugars contained in the fodder are used as an energy source of the microbes and are thus converted into a microbial mass and consequently do not directly increase the sugar supply to the organism.
Animals, including ruminants, need sugar predominantly for the function of the liver and the mammary glands. Glucose is converted into lactose in the cow's udder and is secreted together with the milk. In a cow yielding 30 kg of mild daily this corresponds to about 1500 g of glucose leaving the organism daily. Taking into consideration the animal's further requirements it is estimated that a medium size cow in its period of maximum production requires about 2000 g/day of sugar. This sugar amount must be supplied by the liver. As no considerable amounts of sugar, especially glucose, pass through the rumen, intact glucose must be produced in the liver of the ruminants. Important glucose sources constitute propionic acid in the rumen and glucose synthesis by the organism from proteins and lactic acid. It is however estimated that the sugar deficit in an animal yielding 30 kg of milk daily is about 700 g. The animal attempts to compensate for this deficit by breaking down organism fats. By this means glycerol is formed which is converted into glucose. Also fatty acids are formed, which in turn break down into ketone-bodies. Thus, the animal might suffer from ketosis in case an excessive degradation of fats occurs.
If the supply of glucose to the animal is ensured, the breaking down of fat tissue decreases which, however, is not normally sufficient to maintain the glucose level in the blood.
The glucose level in the udder plays an essential role in the regulation of the mild yield. If the udder tissue contains large amounts of glucose, the cells will absorb fluid by osmosis from the blood to compensate the osmotic pressure. The milk yield thus increases. If the sugar content is low, the opposite phenomenon occurs.